In packs made from material of a certain stiffness, for example hinged-lid boxes for cigarettes and the like, constructions result which require that certain flaps, forming a common wall of the pack, must necessarily be constructed with different sizes, in particular with different transverse sizes. This applies in particular to inner flaps which, when they extend over the full width of the wall in question, must have a width diminished by the thickness of the wall located at right angles thereto, if the flaps are not to be forced, buckled or the like.
An example of the above problem is provided by the pack according to our earlier German Patent Application No. P 28 13 390.6. The pack described therein, of the hinged-lid box type, consists of a uniform, single blank, including a collar customary in such packs, the collar consisting of a collar front wall and collar side flaps. This collar is set back inwards relative to the front wall of the pack and relative to the side walls thereof. The collar flaps therefore rest against the inner face of the side wall of the pack. This means that the free contact surface for the collar flaps is of lesser width than the (outer) transverse sizes of the side wall. This side wall is usually formed from two side flaps having the width of the pack side wall, which are folded over one another and bonded to one another. Consequently, the collar flaps must have a smaller width than the abovementioned side flaps.
A further example of such a pack is provided by German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,332,438. Here, not only the collar flaps but further gores, belonging to the inner side flaps, must be constructed of a lesser width than the side flaps in question.
This leads to difficulties in the production of the blanks for such packs. If the integral, spread-flat blanks are cut lying next to one another from one sheet, for example a punched sheet, a continuous web or the like, it is not possible to arrange the blanks to lie closely next to one another and sever them, at least in the region of the side flaps of equal width, by a common, single severing cut. Simultaneous production of the relevant flaps of lesser width by also severing a very narrow edge strip of 1 mm or 2 mm width is technically not feasible. Rather, it is necessary in such a case to punch out an intermediate strip of at least 3 mm width extending over the entire length of the blank. This is technically difficult and moreover leads to increased material consumption. Furthermore, it is a disadvantage that as a result of the punching a substantial amount of waste is always produced, which must be removed.